My last blog looked at basic spring time walking requirements. This blog looks at regular things that kill dogs every year in spring and summer.

Heat in the park and in cars

Even as the temperature heats up slightly, a dog’s thirst for water increases dramatically. Your dog will want to drink more often and find cooler places to walk or run and play, particularly younger or older dogs, large dogs and black-coated dogs, dogs with double coats and dogs with illnesses.

The car windows need to be wound down anytime you stop with your dog. If you are leaving the car for any length of time and have to leave your dog inside, wind them down as much as you can and keep your alarm on.

In the country’s southern states snakes have been coming out of hibernation since August. They are at their most hungry and most lethal and will sometimes take more chances on getting their first meal. Most snakes in my area (Melbourne) are not aggressive, but a dog or person standing on them is likely to get bitten.

Snake bites are very dangerous and expensive to heal, if a dog can be recovered at all. The anti venom usually costs around $900 and a three day stay at the vet can cost around $1000 per day.

Always aim to walk dogs in the early morning. If parks have bushes in them or there’s a lot of leaf litter, try and keep to the bare dirt paths or open grass fields.

For afternoon walks only go to grass sections, and if your dog has limited recall, go to parks that are fenced in and known not to have snakes.

I still can’t work out why a non-endangered deadly species is so protected in local dog parks, but until councils remove snakes or declare dogs and people more valued, snakes will always be a part of our dog walking environment. Just be aware of them, and know what to do if bitten.

BIO: Bruce Dwyer is a professional dog walker based in inner west of Melbourne Australia. From an original career in Electronic Engineering and Corporate Marketing he chose to concentrate on the dog service industry. His company ‘Dog Walkers Melbourne’ has been in business since 2010 and is based on providing the best dog walking and pet sitting solutions for people in Melbourne. The only two times that he has been away from his own dog, he has used his own company’s 24 hour pet sitters. His own dog Archie (an 8 year old spoodle), enjoys TWO dog walks per day with many of the images and videos from his daily off lead dog pack walks featured on the following sites:

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Author: Bruce Dwyer
Bruce Dwyer is a professional dog walker based in inner west Melbourne, Australia. From an original career in Electronic Engineering and Corporate Marketing he chose to concentrate on the dog service industry. His company 'Dog Walkers Melbourne' has been in business since 2010 and was based on providing the best dog walking and pet sitting solutions for people in Melbourne. The only two times that he has been away from his own dog, he has used his own 24 hour pet sitters.